Shoe transfer mechanism



Dec. 27, 1966 L. F. STANTON T AL SHOE TRANSFER MECHANISM 8 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 14, 1963 [In/en to r8 Leo F Stanion James F, Sfewari Donald fifiz bley Dec. 27, 1966 Y STANTON ET AL 3,293,677

SHOE TRANSFER MECHANISM 8 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 14, 1963 Dec. 27, 1966 L, F, STANTON ET AL 3,293,677

SHOE TRANSFER MECHANISM Filed May 14, 1963 8 Sheets-Sheet 3 Dec. 27, 1966 L. F. STANTON E L SHOE TRAN$FER MECHANISM 8 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed May 14, 1963 Dec. 27,1966 STANTON ET AL 3,293,677

SHOE TRANSFER MECHANI SM Filed May 14, 1 963 8 Sheets-Sheet 5 Dec. 27, 1966 STANTON ET AL 3,293,677

SHOE TRANSFER MECHANISM Fil ed May 14, 1963 8 Sheets-Sheet 6 x I 22mm 2 i Dec. 27, 1966 L, F, TA ET AL r 3,293,677

SHOE TRANSFER MECHANISM Filed May 14, 1963 8 Sheets-Sheet '7 Filed May 14, 1963 s Sheets-Sheet 8 Dec. 27, 1966 M STANTQN ET AL 3,293,677

SHOE TRANSFER MECHANISM United States Patent 3,293,677 SHOE TRANdFElR MECHANISM Leo F. Stanton, Newburyport, James R. Stewart, Salem, and Donald E. Ripley, Peabody, Mass., assignors to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Flemington, N.J., a corporation of New Jersey Filed May 14, 1963, Ser. No. 280,236 13 Claims. (Cl. 12--]l) This invention relates to automatic mechanism for transferring work from a predetermined position in one machine which has operated thereon and predeterminedly presenting it to another. More particularly the invention pertains to an adaptable, automatic shoe carrying means operative between two shoemaking machines under the control of an operator whereby, when the first has completed its operation on a last-mounted shoe, the latter is, at the will of the operator, unloaded and presented by the carrying means to the second machine for a second operation thereon, the carrying means thereupon automatically returning toward the first machine in readiness for repeating unloading and transfer of the next shoe.

While the invention is herein illustrated as embodied in transfer mechanism acting in combination with a pair of shoe machines respectively having movable last supporting means including last pins, each of these machines by way of example performing heel end operations and requiring heel center-line orienting of the lasts relative to the operating instrumentalities, it is to be recognized that the invention is not thus limited in its application, but may advantageously operate between any consecutive machines having movable last supporting means to relieve an operator of considerable routine burden. It should be noted that preferably the invention is to be practiced with shoe machines adapted to operate on geometrically graded, rather than arithmetically graded, shoes and lasts. This is because geometrical grading, by reason of strict proportionality between sizes within a given style, enables a given point on a shoe on a last thus graded always to be predictably located, and hence positioned with accuracy with respect to operating parts of a machine. Accordingly for best performance it is highly desirable that both the novel transfer mechanism herein disclosed as well as the pair of shoe machines served thereby be designed to handle geometrically graded lasts having positioning surfaces (for instance such as are provided in the heel-cone plate fully disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 2,806,233, granted September 17, 1957 upon an application filed in the name of Arthur R. Hubbard et al.). The invention may, in fact, also be practiced with arithmetically graded lasts and shoes if the same or substantially equivalent heel-cone positioning plates are so positioned on the respective lasts that their thimble holes and reference surfaces occupy the same relative positions, in each case, as they would in the corresponding geometrically graded lasts. Thus each arithmetical last preferably should have the axis of its thimble hole in geometrically graded spacing from the rear extremity of the circular feather edge of the heel seat. Usage of the positioning plates, as set forth in the above cited patent, in conjunction with a last pin received in the thimble of the lasts selectively enables them to be mounted so that their heel part center lines coincide or, if desired as when operating upon foreparts, so that the center lines of the "ice lasts which pass through their extremities and their thimble axes coincide for all rights and coincide for all lefts.

In a prevailing trend to automation various shoemaking systems have hitherto been proposed to supplant manually movable storage racks by which shoe lots have been moved successively to the independent, arbitrarily spaced shoe machines of a conventional production line. Many of these prior systems employ powered conveyors for attending an entire series of operating machines, and numerous. special pallets transported by the conveyors are often also required in order properly to position the shoes at different work stations. Such apparatus is necessarily expensive. Frequently, because of its inflexibility, elaborate apparatus is economically unsuited to the needs of smaller shoe manufacturers, and may be inefiicient in handling the smaller lots of the larger manufacturers. Since labor continues as a highly important factor for every shoemaker, there remains in the industry, particularly as regards selected adjacent operating stations (which may themselves be complex and highly automatic), a definite need for a versatile, semi-automatic, yet uncomplicated shoe handling device capable of relieving an operator, at least in part, of routine unloading, loading, and transporting functions.

It accordingly is a primary objective of this invention to provide an improved, versatile shoe transporter for facilitating the attendance of two shoe machines by one operator.

Another object of the invention is to provide, in combination with two spaced operating stations respectively having a last-mounted shoe support, a movable carrier for a last-mounted shoe, and power means controlling the carrier sequentially to unload the shoe from the support of one of the stations upon completion of an operation thereon, then deliver the shoe at the will of an operator to the control of the support of the second station in readiness for its operation thereon, and thereupon automatically to return toward the one station in readiness to unload the next shoe to have been operated upon thereat.

To these ends, among others, and in accordance with a feature of this invention, two spaced shoe machines adapted, when their last pins are loaded, to complete their respective operating cycles automatically, are combined with novel, semi-automatic shoe transfer mechanism for automatically carrying a last-mounted shoe from the last pin of one machine in response to the termination of its cycle, and for thence at the will of an operator carrying and presenting the shoe to a predetermined position in the other machine for mounting on its last pin, whereupon said mechanism is empty and free automatically to return toward the one machine in preparation for repeat unloading operation. As herein illus-' trated, the transfer mechanism comprises a carrier movable in coordination with the operating cycles of the two machines and provided with releasable last-gripping means for seizing and unidirectionally shifting, one at a time, both right and left last-mounted shoes to be delivered to the control of the jack of the second machine. This carrier is clearly distinguished from earlier known shoe-bearing pallets in that the latter customarily are not separated from their lasts even at an operating station but respectively accompany the same lasts throughout their course of movement.

For purposes of illustration the transfer mechanism is in this instance pneumatically actuated and, again merely for convenience of illustration, both of the machines served thereby are pneumatically powered, the particular machines (partly shown herein) by way of exemplification being a heel attaching machine and a heel trimming -or scouring machine. (The former largely corresponds to the heel attaching machine disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 3,072,913 issued January 15, 1963 on an application filed in the name of Paul E. Morgan et al., and the latter machine corresponds essentially to a cam controlled heel trimmer disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 3,235,893, based on an application Serial No. 280,234, filed May 14, 1963, in the names of Adolph S. Dorosz et al.) It will be appreciated that hydraulic, mechanical, or electrical power sources, or their combina tion may as well be employed as an all-pneumatic energization of the shoe handling system without departing from the scope of this invention.

Since any two machines to be served by the transfer mechanism may differ in the distance by which their last pins (or other shoe support means) are spaced, a feature of the invention resides in the provision of guide means extending at least the distance between the pins and by which the carrier is directed, power means for moving the carrier along the guide means, and a control member adjustable lengthwise of the guide means, the control member being arranged in the vicinity of one of the pins to be engaged by the carrier thus to render the power means effective to determine a position of axial alinement of the thimble of a last held by the carrier with the last pin receivable in the thimble.

Since it is desired to maintain positional control of the last to be transferred so that it may, in this case, be mounted in the trimmer with an initial heel center-line mounting which corresponds in orientation to that had prior to its unloading from the heel attacher, novelty is to be recognized in the means by which positional control of the last is transmitted to the carrier from the jack of the heel attaching machine, and again in the means by which such control is passed from the carirer to the last pin of the trimmer. Certain control elements of the transfer mechanism essential to coordinating its operation with the machines are mounted on them, and it will be appreciated that the nature of their mounting and form may require change to accommodate the particular machines served.

The foregoing and other features of the invention together with various novel details and combinations of parts will now be more particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings and thereafter pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a view in front perspective of shoe transfer mechanism with its carrier in idle position and arranged to serve adjacent operating stations, for instance those of a heel attacher shown in phantom on the left and of a heel trimmer indicated on the right;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the carrier shown in FIG. 1 in its rest position together with a portion of the transfer mechanism and associated controls located adjacent to a first or unloading station of the heel attacher, the jack of the latter having bottomed to its loading position;

FIG. 3 is a front elevation of a portion of the left-hand end of the transfer mechanism when, at an early stage of its cycle, the carrier has been moved leftward for alinement with the jack of the heel attacher for unloading it;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged plan view of last clamping mechanism of the carrier in clamping relation to a heel cone positioning plate, another plate of opposite hand being indicated in phantom, and the lasts themselves being omitted for clarity but thus having their heel center lines coincidental;

FIG. 5 is a view corresponding to FIG. 4 but indicating a modified cone positioning plate and cooperating clamping jaw used when desired to aline the center line planes of the foreparts of last mounted shoes for forepart operations thereon;

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the right-hand portion of the transfer mechanism showing the carrier shifted to its last delivering and loading position in the second or trimmer station;

FIG. 7 is a view in end elevation of the carrier when positioned as shown in FIG. 6, a portion being broken away to reveal its construction details, and the trimmer jack having started its upward movement toward an operating position;

FIG. 7a is a detail in front elevation of the trimmer jack of FIG. 7 but in a subsequent condition;

FIG. 8 is a section taken on the line VIIIVIII of FIG. 7 and showing means enabling delivery of the transferred last;

FIG. 9 is a view in side elevation of control mechanism associated with the shoe supporting means of the heel attacher, the parts being shown just prior to last gripping by the transfer mechanism, and

FIG. 10 is a pneumatic diagram of the control system.

In the illustrative system the work transfer mechanism may be independently mounted to be moved into operating position between, and adjacent to, any shoemaking machines to aid an operator in attending them as will be explained, or it may be more permanently secured, as shown, to and between the frames of two selected machines, such as in this case an air operated heel attaching machine shown by dash lines at A (FIG. 1) and an air operated heel trimming machine shown by dash lines at B (FIG. 1). While it will be assumed that the operator initially mounts successive last-mounted shoes on a jack 20 of the heel attacher and subsequently manually removes them from a jack 22 (FIG. 7) of the trimmer, ti will be understood that these last supporting means including their respective last pins 24, 26 (FIG. 1) may, when desired, be initially loaded and unloaded, respectively, by other automatic means not herein disclosed.

The transfer mechanism generally comprises a carrier 28 (FIGS. 1, 2, 6 and 7), guide means therefor including a pair of parallel bars 30, 32 (FIGS. 1-3) which extend through bores of the carrier and at least to the vicinity of the last pins 24, 26, a frame 34 (FIGS. 1, 3) preferably secured to at least one of the machines A and B for supporting the bars, pneumatic power means including an elongated horizontal cylinder 36 affixed to the frame and a piston 38 (FIG. 1) axially movable within the cylinder, a cable 40 (FIG. 2) by which opposite sides of the piston 38 are connected to the carrier, and control mechanism by which reversible operative movements of the carrier between the last pins is determined, at times automatically and other times at the will of the operator to insure fast and proper coordination with the machines at A and B.

Upon completion of a cycle of operations in the heel attacher A, a jack post 42 (FIG. 2) of the jack 26) is pneumatically lowered from its uppermost operating position essentially by the means set forth, for instance, in the above cited Morgan et al. patent, together with its pin 24 fully engaged in the thimble hole of a shoe mounting last L (FIG. '3), the heel cone of which is fitted with a positioning plate 44 (FIGS. 3, 4 and 6). This s-o-called intelligence plate may be of the type disclosed in the Hubbard et al. patent referred to above. Preferably, for cooperating with side positioning surfaces 46, -48 of the plate 44, the post 42 is provided with last orienting and retaining members in the form of a fixed, upstanding lug 50 (FIGS. 2 and 3) and a lever 52 pivoted to the jack. The upper end of the lever is normally urged to a closed position by a compression spring 54 acting on the knee of a toggle comprised of links 56, 58,

the link 56 being pivoted at an outer end to the jack and the link 58 having its outer end pivoted to the lever 52. The spring 54 is mounted on the upstanding portion of a yoke 60 carrying the knee pin of the toggle 56, 58, the yoke ultimately descending to a bottom position determined by a fixed portion 62 of the jack 20. For present purposes the jack 20 to be unloaded supports on a pivot pin 64 (FIGS. 2 and 3) a lever 66, an upper angular end of which serves as an abutment to be engaged by a correspondingly angular portion 68 of the post 42 thus to determine a fixed heightwise level for the plate 44 as shown in FIG. 3 and an intermediate level for the last pin 24 in which the carrier 28 can operate as will hereinafter be described to grip and unload the last L.

While the heel attaching machine is completing its operating cycle and its jack post is still elevated, the carrier 28 has been in its rest position shown in FIG. 2 and between stations A and B, but preferably nearer A. A more complete explanation of the construction of the carrier 28 will now be made prior to describing its operating sequence in detail. It is provided with a U-shaped bracket 72 (FIG. 2) to which adjacent ends of the controlling cable 40 are secured, the cable extending about pulleys 74, 74 (FIGS. 1 and 6) fixedly ecured one at each end of the frame 34. The carrier integrally includes a pair of parallel arms 76 (FIGS. 2, 6 and 7) in which is journaled a pin 78. Secured to this pin between the arms is a last supporting, angular lever 89, and secured to the lower end of the pin 7 8 is a positioning arm 82 (FIGS. 7 and 8) for the lever 80. This lever is formed with spaced, fiat shelf-like projecting portions 84, 86, the former having secured thereon a last positioning front jaw 88, and the portion 86 receiving a pin 90 for pivotally supporting a back, last-plate clamping piece 92. This piece is adapted to be swung into last clamping relation as will be described, its undercut arcuate jaw 0r lip 94 serving as shown in FIG. 4 to match with a correspondingly shaped, back clamping surface of the plate 44. The lip 94 is preferably concentric with a thimble hole 96 of the clamped last, clamping pressure exerted through the piece 92 cooperating with pairs of spaced, straight positioning surfaces 98, 100, or 102, 104 on the front jaw 88 accurately and predeterminedly to position right and left lasts. For moving the piece 92 into and out of last-clamping relation by automatic control means later explained, the lever 80 has secured thereto a bracket 106 supporting an air operated actuator consist ing of a cylinder 108 (FIG. 2) its piston 110 (not shown except in FIG. and a plunger 112 connected thereto. The latter is arranged to engage one end of a bell crank 114 pivoted to the portion 86, an end 116 of the crank being rounded and disposed to bear on the piece 92 and thus force its lip into last clamping position. The piece 92 has a depending block cam portion 118 (FIGS. 4, 6 and 9) for a purpose later explained, the weight of this cam portion being adequate normally to effect disengagement of the lip 94 from a last upon release of clamping pressure.

For automatically controlling a lateral positioning of the carrier 28, it supports a shoe-type cam 120 (FIGS. 1 and 3) which overhangs a rod 122 adjacent to the bar 32 and extending parallel thereto. The cam 12!) is accordingly disposed to engage and actuate a two-position valve 124 (FIGS. 1, 3 and 10) adjustably secured to the rod 122 in a position to signal for shut-off of the operating pressure or, more accurately, establishing a balanced holding pressure within the cylinder 36 when the carrier arrives in its rest position. A two-position valve 126 (FIGS. 1 and 10) is similarly adjustably mounted on the rod 122 but adjacent to the second or trimmer operating station B, later to be engaged by the cam 120 to shut-off effective carrier-shifting pressure within the cylinder 36 when the carrier is properly alined with that station. Both of the valves 124, 126 are of conventional one-way actuation type.

As shown in FIG. 2, while the carrier 28 is in its rest position the lever occupies an inoperative out of the way relation determined by a stud 128 threaded into the carrier, and by a springpressed detent 130 (FIG. 7), the rounded lower end of which is releasably received in a shallow depression 131 formed in the upper surface of the positioning arm 82. When the carrier 28 is shifted leftward from its position in FIG. 2 to that of FIG. 3, upon actuation of a combination of automatic and manual control means about to be described, a roll 132- (FIGS. 6 and 7) carried by the positioning arm 82 engages a cam 164 (FIGS. 2 and 3) fast on the frame 34. Consequently the lever 80 is now pivoted counterclockwise as viewed in FIGS. 1 and 2 to carry the open jaws 88, 94 into a position beneath the descending mounted last of station A and in readiness to be closed on the last plate 44 in its fixed level referred to above. The lever 80 i thereupon locked in this operative relation to the carrier 28 (as indicated in FIG. 7) by reason of the detent 130 now extending into a bore 136 of the arm 82 and displacing downwardly a spring-pressed plunger 138 in the bore, the plunger having a rounded head for a purpose later to be noted.

The jack post 42 is kept from turning in its operating station by some suitable means, for instance a tail piece 154) (FIGS. 2 and 9) of the post extending to be received during lowering of the last in a vertical slot 152 of the heel attacher frame. This construction is taken advantage of as will now be explained to initiate the operating cycle of the carrier, it being understood that other equivalent expedients may be employed as required in other types of operating stations. When the shoe S (only partly shown in FIG. 7) on its last L has received its heel, the jack post 42 starts to descend vertically from its uppermost position with its tail piece 150, the latter slidably engaging a cam 154 (FIGS. 2, 9) and deflecting it. A lever 156, to which the cam 154 is secured, is mounted on the heel attacher frame for pivotal movement about a vertical axis and is thereby caused to actuate a two-position valve 158 (FIGS. 9, 10). As a result air under pressure is admitted to the left side of the piston 38 to move the carrier 28 leftward from its rest position. The "arrangement is such that shortly after the last-clamping jaws have been swung into open, inoperative position as above described, a stop stud 140 (FIG. 3) adjustably threaded in the carrier 28 engages a two-way valve 142 (FIG. 10) carried by a ring clamp 144 adjustable on the bar 32. The valve 142, and a resilient safety bumper ring 146, which is backed up by an adjustable ring clamp 148 on the guide bar 30, are laterally prepositioned to aline the thimble hole axis of the last to be gripped by the jaws $8, 94 when closed with the axis of the descending last pin 24. It is at this time that the jack post 42 has descended to the intermediate heightwise position referred to above and determined by the lever 66 being engaged by the jack post 42. Further descent of the horizontal last-positioning plate 44 brings it to rest with its front end on the flat portion 84 and its back end on the flat portion 86 and between the still open jaws 88, 92.

The just described sequence presupposes the heeler has previously been completing its heel attaching cycle. It will be understood that if, upon commencing operations, the heeler jack 29 is already in its lowermost position, it will be raised toward operating position by power means associated with the heeler, and in the course of such movement the last mounted on the pin 24 will be clamped by the jaws 50, 52. Upward movement of the tailpiece 150 will be inelfective to signal for initial leftward movement of the carrier, however, since (though not so illustrated) the cam 154 and the valve 158 are of a conventional one-way only actuation type.

The leftward movement of the carrier 28 to actuate the valve 142 effects two results: (1) the last-clamping cylinder 108 is pressurized, and thereafter (2) a jack post-releasing cylinder 162 (FIGS. 3 and 10) is actuated. In order to prevent any prematurely attempted last-clamping by the pressurized cylinder 108, means now to be explained is arranged to engage temporarily the block cam 118 thus to oppose the last clamping movement of the piece 92 for an appropriate interval. For this purpose in the course of the downward movement of the tail piece 150, a roll 164 (FIGS. 2 and 9) thereon engages and deflects, against the influence of a return spring 166, a lower cam-shaped portion 168 of a lever 178 pivoted at 172 to the heel attacher frame. The front of a nosepiece 174 adjustably secured to the lever 170 and which has been contacting the cam 118 is accordingly swung downwardly out of such contact as shown in FIG. 9. At the proper instant in the downward travel of the jack post, the cam 118 is thus free of the nosepiece and hence the cylinder 188 is now quickly effective to cause clamping of the plate 44 lengthwise between the jaws 88, 92. The cylinder 162 is bracketed to the jack 20 and, when actuated, its plunger 176 bears on an arm of the lever 66 to swing its upper end clockwise (as viewed in FIG. 3), and against resistance of a return spring 178, from engagement with the jack post 42 to permit its descent. To insure that the plunger 1'76 acts after the clamping plunger 11.2, a restriction 180 (FIG. 10) is provided in the air supply line to the cylinder 162. In the case of any two other machines being served by the transfer mechanism it may well be that no restriction 180 would be required or that the extent of restriction would be varied. The released jack post continues downward to withdraw its last pin 24 from the thimble hole 96 of the last L now held clamped solely by the carrier jaws 88, 92, the retaining lever 52 and the lug 50' being retracted vertically from their last clamping relation. Upon engagement of the lower ends of the yoke 68 with the jack portion 62, the jack post 42 is relatively lowered a little further thereby causing the link 56 to be moved counterclockwise to break the toggle 5'6, 58. Thus the lever 52 is moved clockwise to its open position in readiness to receive the next last.

When the jack post has bottomed as just described it actuates a 3-way valve 182 (FIGS. 9 and mounted on the heel attaching machine thereby signaling for transfer of the carrier with its last-mounted shoe by admission of air under pressure to the right side of the transfer piston 38. Before this piston can be effectively shifted leftward to move the carrier to station B, however, an operator must have determined that the trimmer, for instance, thereat is unloaded and ready to receive the next shoe from the carrier. He thereupon completes the signal for effecting carrier transfer of that shoe by actuating manual control, cycle-starting valve 184 (FIGS. 1 and 10) in series with the valve 182. Referring now more particularly to FIG. 10 his actuation of the valve 184 causes actuation of 4-Way valves 186, 188 thereby admitting pressurized air to the cylinder 36 to shift the carrier 28 toward the trimmer station B (the valves 186-, 188 and others, unless otherwise located, may be physically mounted on a panel secured to the transfer frame 34 or to either of the frames of the stations A or B). When the carrier cam 120 actuates the 3-way buffer valve 126, the 4-way valve 188 shifts thus put-ting air under reduced counter pressure through a reducing valve 190 to cause a much slower final speed of the piston 38 as the carrier arrives and is held at station B and actuates a valve 192 (FIGS. 6 and 10). For safety a collar 194 (FIGS. 1 and 7) is adjustably mounted on the bar 30 also to abut the carrier and act as a supplemental stop therefor.

As a result of the actuation of the valve 192, a 3-way valve 196 (FIG. 10) is shifted thus bleeding off air and reducing pressure in the last-gripping cylinder 108 through action of a pressure reducing valve 260. The arrangement is such that for a very short time the last plate is only lightly clamped lengthwise. At this time the actuation of the valve 192 also causes shifting of a valve 202 whereby a jack operating cylinder 204 (FIG. 10) of the station B is pressurized to elevate the jack 22 of the trimmer thereby raising its last pin 26 from an inoperative position toward a raised or trimming position. It is in the course of this upward movement that the pin 26, being now axially alined with the carrier-gripped last, or more correctly with its thimble hole 96, is to enter the latter to remove the last from clamping jaws of the carrier 28 which are under reduced pressure. Preferably, as shown in FIG. 10 an air pulse or signal back from station B is caused by arrival of the last pin 26 at a subsequent selected level thus to effect complete opening of the jaws 88, 94. For this purpose a line 286 having a sequence valve 208 is arranged to connect the cylinder 204 with pilots of valves 218, 212 respectively causing them to shift. As a consequence the last-gripping cylinder 108 is at once exhausted by the valve 210, and the valve 212 is effective to pressurize a fixed cylinder 214 (FIGS. 6, 8 and 10) operative as will shortly be explained. A widthwise acting jaw 216 (FIGS. 7, 7a) pivoted at 218 to the jack 22 is caused to cooperate, in the course of upward movement of the latter, with a fixed jaw 228 thereon. To this end a spring-pressed pin 222 (FIGS. 7 and 7a) is cammed rearwardly in a groove of the jack by a cam 224 secured to the lever 80, a thicker portion 225 (FIG. 7a) of the pin 222 thereby being urged from beneath a yoke 226 (FIG. 7a) to permit a compression spring 228 on an upstanding portion thereof to straighten a toggle 230, 232 (corresponding to the toggle S6, 58) as shown in FIG. 7a. The clamped last is thus held accurately positioned on the jack 22 and continues upwardly to have its shoe processed.

When the work to be performed at stations A and B requires their operating instrumentalities to have reference to the forepart centerline plane of the lasts instead of the heel part centerline, a positioning jaw having a straight gripping face 233 (FIG. 5) may be secured on the portion 84 in lieu of the jaw 88.

In order to enable the unloaded carrier lever to return to its inoperative position, a piston rod 234 (FIGS. 6-8) extending in the cylinder 214, is thrust to the left (as viewed in FIG. 8) against a return Spring (not shown), an inclined face cam 236 secured to the rod then slidably engaging the head of the plunger 138 to displace it upwardly and hence remove the detent 130 from looking relation with the arm 82. The cam 236 is slidably mounted in a dovetailed slot 238 of a block 240 secured to the frame of the trimmer, and is provided with a face cam 242 (FIG. 6) disposed to cooperate with the roll 132 whereby the lever 80 is swung clockwise as viewed in FIG. 6 to abut the stud 128. At the end of the leftward movement of the piston rod 234, a projection 244 (FIG. 6) from the cam 236 actuates a valve 246 (FIGS. 6 and 10). The valve 186 is thereby actuated to admit air under pressure to the cylinder 36 whereby the empty carrier is automatically returned toward its initial rest position of FIG. 2. On reengagement of the carrier cam with the valve 124 to shift it, the valve 188 is actuated through a shuttle valve 248 (FIG. 10) thus pressurizing opposite sides of the piston 38 equally and stopping the carrier 28 in readiness for its next cycle. The actuation of the valve 246 may also be used to signal the trimmer or other machine at station B to start its cycle.

From the foregoing it will be clear that the shoe transfer system described considerably simplifies the duties of an operator and yet remains an easily operated device. Functions are largely automatically coordinated with the operating cycles of the two work stations served while motions are conveniently under the control of the single operator. While not limited either to the specific functional sequence illustrated or to the arrangement of machine controls shown, the cycle of the transfer mechanism will now be briefly reviewed as herein employed with the heeler A and the trimmer B. Having loaded a last mounted shoe on the lowered heeler last pin 24 in station A, the operator manually actuates conventional heeler controls in the form of series switches 250, 252 (FIG. 1) to initiate the heel attaching cycle. During the heel attaching he proceeds to unload a previous shoe which has just been heel trimmed in station B. Meanwhile the heel attaching being completed, the descending tail piece 150 causes the valve 158 to have the carrier 28 moved leftward from rest position and its jaws 88, 92 positioned to clamp lengthwise the last plate 44 of the last in the heeler. The lateral operating position of these jaws is at this time jointly determined by operation of the adjustable valve 142 when engaged by the carrier stud 140, and by engagement of the roll 132 with the cam 134. After the lever 66 has determined the fixed intermediate level of the plate 44, the surfaces 84, 86 of the carrier come in at a level beneath the descending last to provide a shelf on which the jaws 88, 92 can thereafter seize it. Following disengagement of hte lever 66 downward movement of the jack deposits the plate on the surfaces 84, 86, the jaws 88, 92 then clamp the last lengthwise, whereupon the jack 20 then bottoms to actuate the valve 182. Having satisfied himself that station B is ready to receive the next shoe, the operator actuates the valve 184 causing the carrier to transfer the lengthwise-clamped last from Station A, parallel to itself, and directly to a position wherein its thimble hole is axially alined with and above the trimmer last pin 26, but beneath the operating position of station B. Arrival of the carrier at Station B to actuate the valve 192 causes the valve 202 to pressurize the jack 22 to move the last pin 26 axially toward its operating position in the trimmer. In the course of its upward movement the pin 26 is received in the thimble of the carrier-gripped last, the carrier jaws 88, 92 having first relaxed their grip by operation of the valve 196 and the reducing valve 200, and then released the last to the ascending pin upon exhausting of the valve 210. While station B is thus being automatically loaded, the operator manually reloads station A with the next shoe to be sequentially processed in the machines A and B, and can thereupon manually unload station B. The carrier 28 having been relieved of its last in station B, it is automatically returned to its rest position between the machines with its lever 80 occupying the retracted, outof-the-way position.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. Automatic mechanism for demounting a lastmounted shoe from the movable last support of one shoemaking machine which has separate and complete control of the last mounted shoe during a manufacturing operation performed thereon and releasably mounting said shoe on a similar movable last support of a second shoemaking machine for further operation, said mechanism comprising a carrier having movably mounted thereon releasable last-gripping jaws, power means for moving the carrier from its last demounting position adjacent the one shoemaking machine to its last mounting position adjacent the second shoemaking machine and return, and means adjacent each of the machines and cooperative with the carrier for moving its jaws into a last-engaging position wherein they and one of the last supports can relatively move to transfer control over the last-mounted shoe between the jaws and the one last support.

2. In combination with a pair of spaced shoemaking machines each having last supporting means including a movable last pin, shoe transfer mechanism operative to unload successive shoe mounted lasts from the last pin on one machine and load them on the last pin of the other machine, said mechanism comprising a carrier provided with releasable last-gripping means, means for moving the carrier between a carrier loading position adjacent to the 10 last pin of said one machineand carrier unloading position adjacent to the last pin of said other machine, and means for operating the last gripping means to unload the one machine by gripping a last in the course of its movement on the last pin of said one machine, and means for thereafter operating the last-gripping means to load the other machine by releasing the gripped last with its thimble hole axially alined with the operating path of the last pin of said other machine.

3. Automatic shoe transfer mechanism for cyclically removing last-mounted shoes from the last pin of one shoemaking machine which has separate and complete control of the last mounted shoe during a manufacturing operation performed thereon and releasably positioning them on a similar last pin of a second shoemaking machine, comprising guide means extending between the pins, a carrier slidably supported by the guide means, a pair of releasable last clamping jaws movably mounted on the carrier, adjustably spaced abutment means engageable by the carrier and arranged one adjacent to each of the pins for alinirrg therewith the thimble hole of a last clamped by the jaws, and power means for moving the carrier on the guide means.

4. Automatic shoe transfer mechanism for cyclically removing last-mounted shoes from the last pin of one machine and positioning them on the last pin of a second machine, comprising guide means extending between the pins, a carrier slidably supported by the guide means, a pair of releasable last clamping jaws movably mounted on the carrier, adjustably spaced abutment means engageable by the carrier and arranged one adjacent to each of the pins for alining therewith the thimble hole of a last clamped by the jaws, and power means including manual control means for moving the carrier on the guide means, first from the one machine in response to its operation to unload it, and then, at the will of an operator, to present the last to the pin of the second machine.

5. Automatic shoe transfer mechanism for cyclically removing last-mounted shoes from the last pin of one machine and positioning them on the last pin of a second machine, comprising vguide means extending between the pins, a carrier slidably supported by the guide means, a pair of releasable last clamping jaws movably mounted on the carrier, adjustably spaced abutment means engageable by the carrier and arranged one adjacent to each of the pins for alining therewith the thimble hole of a last clamped by the jaws, and power means including manual control means for moving the carrier on the guide means, tfirst from the one machine in response to its operation to unload it, and then, at the will of an operator, to present the last to the pin of the second machine and thereafter automatically return the empty carrier toward the one machine.

6. Shoe transfer mechanism for use with a pair of shoe machines respectively haying axially movable last pins, comprising releasable last gripping means, said means including a pair of relatively movable jaws adapted to clamp a last positioning plate of each last by cooperative engagement with its positioning surfaces, a frame adapted to be secured to at least one of the machines, parallel guide bars supported by the frame and slidably supporting said last gripping means for cyclical movement between the paths of said last pins, power means under the control of an operator for moving the gripping means between said paths, and mechanism responsive to arrival of the gripping means at one machine and to the relative movement of its last pin for causing the jaws to release a last thereto.

7. For use between two shoemaking machines respectively having vertically movable supports for shoe mounted lasts and including clamps for releasably securing the last in predetermined position on the supports, a shoe transfer mechanism comprising a carrier, last gripper means mounted on the carrier and adapted to seize a last while positioned by the clamps in one of the machines and to release the seized last to the control of the clamps of the other machine, power means for moving the carrier be tween the last supports, and control means associated with the power means for determining the loading position of the carrier with respect to the one machine and its unloading position with respect to the other machine.

8. The combination with a pair of spaced shoema-king machines respectively having movable shoe supporting jacks including a last pin and last-clamping mechanism cooperative therewith, of transfer mechanism operative between the jacks first to unload a last from the last pin of one of the machines and load the last upon the last pin of the other of the shoemaking machines such that the last is separate from the transfer mechanism, said mechanism including a carrier, power means .for positioning the carrier sequentially with respect to the last pins, and releasable last-gripping means mounted on the carrier and adapted to grip the last by forces acting substantially at right angles to those exerted by said last-clamping mechanism thereon.

9. For use between two shoe machines respectively having vertically movable jaoks provided with pins for receiving the thimbles of shoe-bearing lasts, a transfer mechanism semi-automatically under the control of an operator attending the machines whereby one of them is unloaded on completion of its cycle and the other is then loaded, the mechanism including a carrier, gripper mechanism movably mounted on the carrier and adapted releasably to clamp a last, power means for moving the carrier from a carrier loading position adjacent the last pin of the one machine to a carrier unloading position adjacent the last pin of the second machine, abutments adjacent the shoe machines and in the path of the carrier for cooperating with the power means in determining said loading and unloading positions, and means in the vicinity of each last pin responsive to the approach of the carrier to cause the lgripper mechanism to move relatively thereto and into position to grip or release the last on the adjacent pin, downward movement of its jaok eifecting the gripping of the last by the gripper mechanism and upward movement of the jack effecting the release of the last from the carrier.

10. For use between two shoe machines respectively having last pins movable heightwise to carry last-mounted shoes toward and from operating positions in the machines, a last transfer mechanism comprising a carrier, releasable last-gripping jaws mounted for relative movement on the carrier, power means .for shifting the carrier from one machine to the other, means operative in response to retraction of the last pin of the one of the machines to a predetermined intermediate level for causing the jaws to grip the last therein, means operative at the will of an operator and in response to further retraction of the last pin of the one machine to cause the power means to shift the carrier with .its last-mounted shoe into the path of the last pin of the other machine, and means responsive to movement of the last-mentioned last pin for causing the jaws to release the last to the control of said last-mentioned last pin.

11. For use between two shoe machines respectively having last pins vertically movable to carry last-mounted shoes toward and from operating positions in the machines, a last transfer mechanism adapted to extend between the last pins, said mechanism comprising releasable last-gripping jaws one of which is provided with spaced pairs of angularly related positioning surfaces adapted to engage corresponding surfaces of last cone positioning plates predeterminedly to locate center-line planes of their right and left lasts in the machines.

12. A transfer mechanism as set forth in claim 11 characterized by fluid pressure means for shifting the jaws laterally between the last pins, and abutment means adjustably fixed adjacent to each machine for positioning the jaws to aline the thimble hole of a last to be seized by the jaws in one machine and released thereby in the other machine with said last pins.

13. A transfer mechanism as set forth in claim 12 further characterized in that said fluid pressure jaw-shifting means comprises a laterally extending cylinder, a piston slidably mounted therein in response to pneumatic pressure, cable means connecting opposite sides of the piston to the last-gripping jaws to move the latter between operating positions adjacent to the machines, and control means responsive to the arrival of the jaws with a last clamped thereby at one of said operating positions of one of said machines to cause the last pin of said one machine to move to receive the last.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,903,722 9/1955 McConchie et a1. 12--1 2,960,708 11/1960 Dorosz 12-1 3,024,480 3/196-2 Baker et al. 12-1 3,072,913 1/1963 Morgan et al. 2271 3,160,259 12/1964 Dalton 19 821 PATRICK D. LAWSON, Primary Examiner.

JORDAN FRANKLIN, Examiner. 

1. AUTOMATIC MECHANISM FOR DEMOUNTING A LASTMOUNTED SHOE FROM THE MOVABLE LAST SUPPORT OF ONE SHOEMAKING MACHINE WHICH HAS SEPARATE AND COMPLETE CONTROL OF THE LAST MOUNTED SHOE DURING A MANUFACTURING OPERATION A SIMILAR MOVABLE LAST SUPPORT OF A SECOND SHOEMAKING ON A SIMILAR MOVABLE LAST SUPPORT OF A SECOND SHOEMAKING MACHINE FOR FURTHER OPERATION, SAID MECHANISM COMPRISING A CARRIER HAVING MOVABLY MOUNTED THEREON RELEASABLE LAST-GRIPPING JAWS, POWER MEANS FOR MOVING THE CARRIER FROM ITS LAST DEMOUNTING POSITION ADJACENT THE ONE SHOEMAKING MACHINE TO ITS LAST MOUNTING POSITION ADJACENT THE SECOND SHOEMAKING MACHINE AND RETURN, AND MEANS ADJACENT EACH OF MOVING ITS JAWS INTO A LAST-ENGAGING POSITION RIER FOR MOVING ITS JAWS INTO A LAST-ENGAGING POSITION WHEREIN THEY AND ONE OF THE LAST SUPPORTS CAN RELATIVELY MOVE TO TRANSFER CONTROL OVER THE LAST-MOUNTED SHOE BETWEEN THE JAWS AND THE ONE LAST SUPPORT. 